I Wanna See You Be Brave
by Jyuoa
Summary: A month after losing Bonnie and Damon, Elena and the others are still recovering from the events that happened. However, Stefan's been avoiding the group and won't speak to anyone. Can Elena get him to open up again? A Stelena friendship story. Sorry about the bad summary, I wrote this one-shot at two in the morning.


**A/N: Sorry in advance. This is what happens when my obsession with Sara Bareilles and TVD collide. Also, I wrote this at two in the morning. I don't own TVD or the lyrics to Brave, I am just a fan.**

An entire month had passed since they lost Bonnie and Damon. The group was hanging out at some bar outside of Mystic Falls. Elena had just walked over. For some reason, after all the chaos that had happened, Enzo decided to stay with their little group. He was with the others when she arrived.

"Hey, Elena." Caroline said as she sat down with them.

"Hi, guys."

"How are you holding up?" Caroline asked.

"Oh, the usual. I keep having these dreams where I keep seeing him." Elena said. "It's like he's there with me every time I fall asleep."

"The same thing's been happening with me." Jeremy admitted. "Only difference is I keep seeing Bonnie instead." Elena put her arm around her brother's shoulder. She was glad they had each other, at least.

"Look, I know this is hard for all of us." Caroline said. She glanced at Enzo. "Well, okay, most of us. But we can get through this."

"Easier said than done, Blondie." Enzo pointed out.

"Don't!" Caroline said, standing up. "That nickname is off limits to you!" Everyone looked at her, surprised by her angry reaction. She noticed them staring at sat back down.

"Sorry. Just trying to prove a point." He said. "Emotional scars take a long time to heal. Being a former soldier, I know a lot about this stuff."

"Hey, it's okay, Care." Matt said, taking her hand. Caroline looked up at him, blinking away the tears threatening to form in her eyes.

"It's hard sometimes. It's like, I know they're gone, but at the same time it's as though it hasn't really set in yet." Caroline said.

"I know the feeling." Jeremy said. "For someone to be here one minute and just…gone the next…"

"This is why we keep meeting up, for support." Matt pointed out.

"It's a good idea, really. Support groups are one of the best ways to go when dealing with loss." Enzo said.

"Like you'd know." Caroline said. "You were locked up for years." He shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I don't miss him any less than you people."

"Well, we've all been taking it really hard." Elena said. She looked around the table again and noticed there was someone missing from their little gathering. "Some of us more than others." Everyone else looked at the empty seat at the table. "Has anyone…"

"No." Jeremy said. "No one's even heard from him. His phone keeps going to voice mail."

"He's taking this way harder than the rest of us." Caroline said. "And who can blame him?"

"I've seen him spending a lot of time at his family's tomb." Enzo said. "I've seen him disappear inside for hours."

"Not to mention he's been dodging everyone's attempts to reach him." Matt said. "He won't talk anybody. It's been three weeks since the last time he was even willing to be near us."

"You're telling me. I saw him the other day and when I tried to talk to him, he just walked away." Caroline told them. Elena started to feel worried about this.

"This isn't like him." She said. "I know he's hurting, but shutting us out like this? I'm really worried."

"He lost his brother." Jeremy pointed out. "Losing someone you love is one thing, but losing a member of your family…that's different." Matt and Elena looked at each other, both understanding what Jer was saying.

"Still, we're his friends." Caroline said. "We can't just sit around and wait anymore."

"Well, what can we do?" Enzo asked.

"I'm going to try to talk to him." Elena said. "Don't know if it'll work, but he's one of my best friends and you don't just leave someone when they're hurting. Especially if it's something like this."

"Good luck." Jeremy told her as she got up.

"Hang on," Caroline said. Elena turned to her. "If anyone can get him to open up, it's you. I know you can do this."

"Thanks, Care." She got up and left.

"You really think she can do it?" Enzo asked

"It's Elena, it's what she does." Caroline said. "It doesn't matter what side your on, she'll always find a way to get people to open up to her."

"You're a better friend than you think, Care." Matt told her.

A few hours later, Elena made her way to the Salvatore tomb. The sun was beginning to set and she remembered the last time she was there. Shivering, she shrugged off any doubt and negativity she was feeling and entered the room. She saw Stefan sitting alone. His back was turned to her, so he hadn't seen her come in.

"Stefan?" Elena asked softly, not wanting to scare him off.

"Hey, Elena." He slowly turned to face her.

"I hear you've been spending a lot of time in here lately." Elena said.

"I guess I just feel more connected to my family here." Stefan shrugged. "More often these days."

"I know." She paused. "When I lost my parents, I'd spend a lot of time at the cemetery, writing near them, sometimes talking to them. It was really hard to deal with, but my friends were there when I needed them."

"Why did you come here?" He asked.

Elena sat down next to him. "I'm worried about you. Everyone is. You've been avoiding us for weeks."

"I guess I needed time to be alone."

"That's what I thought at first, too." Elena said. It's not like the past month was easy for her, either. The first few days she kept waking up in the middle of the night crying. "But then I realized, how are we supposed to go on if we can't lean on each other for support?"

"Look, I can't talk about it, Elena." Stefan told her.

"Why not?" Elena said. "You don't even have to meet with the group, you know I won't tell anyone…"

"I trust you, but some things are just too personal. It's just too hard to describe how I feel. Besides, the one person I could talk to…" He broke off. "Never mind."

Elena looked at him. She wasn't sure how she could get him to open up to her. She'd never seen him look so...defeated. Hopeless. Sure, they were all lost right now, but she had Jeremy and Caroline. Even Matt and Enzo were supportive toward them, but Stefan was all alone. Without Damon, who did he have?

She closed her eyes for a moment. _Damon, Bonnie, if either of you are still here, I need your help. I don't know how to get through to him like this._ She thought. Yes, it was probably weird that she was praying for two of her dead friends to help her, but she had to believe in something. She definitely didn't want to go with plan B on this one.

Then, it hit her. He wasn't able to believe in anything because losing his brother had hit him hard. She shivered, remembering her own experience of losing Jeremy. But for him, it was different. Damon wasn't just his brother, he was his best friend. He could talk to him about almost anything. How was she going to get him to open up to her?

Then, she remembered a song that Caroline had done at the bar during karaoke night. They'd attended a couple weeks ago. She tried to remember the lyrics, and then it came to her. She took Stefan's hand in hers. "You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug." She sang softly. She wasn't sure if she was singing to herself or him. "You can be the outcast or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love. Or you can start speaking up."

Stefan looked at her. She continued singing. "Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do, When they settle 'neath your skin. Kept on the inside and no sunlight-Sometimes a shadow wins." She felt his hand relax against hers and could tell she was getting through to him.

"But I wonder what would happen if you Say what you wanna say," Elena noticed that she was tapping her foot to the song's rhythm. It helped her keep herself on track when she practiced singing without the background music. "And let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave. With what you want to say. And let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave."

She stood up, helping Stefan to his feet as she continued. "And since your history of silence, won't do you any good, Did you think it would?" She was surprised when he spun her out. She spun back in and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Let your words be anything but empty. Why don't you tell them the truth?" She looked into his beautiful green eyes. "Say what you wanna say. And let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave. With what you want to say. And let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave."

She placed her hand gently on the side of his face. "Oh, I just wanna see you. I just wanna see you…I wanna see you be brave." They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. He leaned down toward her and for a moment, she felt nervous. Was he going to try to kiss her? Their foreheads touched, and she felt herself blushing.

"I'm always here for you," She told him. "But you have to let me in. It's the only way we'll be able to get through this."

"You're right."

"We've all been worried. Even Enzo's concerned."

"Really? Enzo's worried?"

"I think he kind of considers you a friend." Elena said. "And I know what it's like…" She paused, trying to phrase it carefully. "To be where you are." Losing Jeremy last year had been almost unbearable. "If you ever need to talk or want to see me…" She started to head toward the exit, when he lightly grabbed her arm.

"It really sucks being alone sometimes," He said. "It's a good thing I have you guys to help pull me away from the edge." She slowly turned to face him. She could see the real Stefan was back.

"So, are you going to be okay?" Elena asked.

"Someday I will be." He admitted. "I think I'm ready to talk about it. Could take a while."

"Well, we have all night." She pointed out.

They spent most of the night up talking about how they were doing with their losses, taking turns listening to each other. Occasionally holding each other up for support.

Hours later, they were walking out of the tomb. "I still can't believe you guys tried out for that dance contest." Elena said, laughing.

"To be fair, it was his idea and we didn't end up with the best partners. If anything, it's like we intentionally got the worst ones."

"You think he compelled them?"

"Doubt it. I put vervain in their drinks. They were really just that bad at dancing." Stefan told her.

"And yet, you two still attended every dance we've had."

"Most of those were look out missions, though." Stefan pointed out. Elena nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm still kind of down, but at the same time, it's like this weight got a little lighter." He told her. "Talking about it with you really helped."

"Maybe one day you could come meet with the rest of us." Elena said. "I know it'll probably take time though. But we're getting through this...one day at a time."

"Thank you. I don't know how I could've gotten through tonight if you hadn't shown up." Stefan said.

"You're my best friend, Stefan. I meant everything I said in there. I'll always be here when you need me."

"I should probably call the others, let them know I'm okay." Elena said. "I had a couple close calls last month." He looked at her. "Caroline found me and helped me both times." She checked her reception. "And I'm not getting a signal."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just really miss both of them." She admitted. He kissed her on the forehead.

"We'll get through this." Elena smiled. They took each other's hands. The path to recovering from losing their friends wasn't going to be easy, but they both knew as long as they had each other, and as long as they had the rest of their group, things would turn out okay.


End file.
